Sedona Law 6 by Dave Daren (best non fiction books of all time .TXT) 📗

“You think you’ve got nothing to lose, don’t you?” he snarled. “You’ve already flushed your career down the toilet, so what does it matter what bridges you burn, huh? Is that how you’re playing this, now, Irving? Cause, I think you were a damn good lawyer. And if you ever snapped out of whatever mental health crisis your sister’s little incident set off, and you wanted to get back into the real world, I’d be happy to pull some strings and get you back into the game. Because I think you’re that good. But, if you want to burn through what little network you’ve got left, well, there’s nothing I can do to help that.”

I laughed again and I clenched my fists. His little speech was getting to me, though.

Is that how my old friends and colleagues back in L.A. saw what I was doing? That I had a mental breakdown and gave up on success and went to live with cows and goats? Was there truth to that? Had I had a mental breakdown?

No. I had not. I had saved people’s lives over the last year. I had given them hope to put their broken pieces back together. I had uncovered the lies that had kept a community from being able to grieve the death of a revered member. I had invested in a kombucha factory. I had connected people together to create a salsa factory. More recently, I was bringing together a group of talented artists and helping them to create a film studio. My life held more meaning in the last year than it had...ever. So fuck Brent.

“What are you doing out here with the cows and goats then?” I asked the question I already knew.

“I’m here to meet a client,” he said.

“Oh yeah?” I asked. “Who?”

“That’s confidential,” he chided.

“Jagger’s going to sue you,” I stated. “If Kelsi doesn’t get to you first. And I know that La Vista contract backwards and forwards.”

“I’m sorry, are we done here?” he replied.

“Yeah,” I said. “That is, until the Feds get here.”

“You’re grasping at the last rung, Irving,” he said. “It’s painful and I can’t bear to watch it.”

He turned and walked into the building. This time I didn’t stop him. I pulled out my phone and called Vicki. I grimaced when I realized I had to tell her where I was. I was going to have to tell her sooner or later, if I was going to send the Feds to come bust Levinson.

But this was going to take some explaining.

“Hey,” she greeted me.

“Hey,” I said. “Did you get the file?”

“Yeah,” she said. “So Roy was smuggling the tusks?”

I sighed. “Yeah. Roy was smuggling them in, because he had undying love for Kelsi, and they had a child together, and needed money to make her think he wasn’t a scumbag anymore.”

“Whoa,” she exclaimed. “Kelsi and Roy had a child together?”

“Yeah,” I said. “That’s not even the wild part.”

“Hold on,” she said. “You’re on speaker.”

“Hey, Henry,” AJ said.

I sighed as I thought about how I had just kicked her cousin’s ass.

“Hey, AJ,” I said.

“So here’s what happened,” I said. “Roy was in love with Kelsi, but was scared to be a father so he split, and ran around the world with bands. Eventually, he came to his senses and realized he was being a dick, and he should go back to Kelsi and the kid. He moves home to Sedona, Kelsi’s is more or less happily married to James, and the kid is well adjusted. But, it doesn’t take long for Kelsi to fall right back into his lap, which complicates things.”

“As it would,“ Vicki scoffed.

“As it would,” I agreed. “So, Roy decides that if he can’t be with her, he wants her and the kid to be happy. So, he decides to make James famous. Which is going to take some time. So, he finds a good group of guys, and he pays a salary to be in the band.”

“That’s not typically the way things work,” AJ said. “That’s weird.”

“Exactly,” I said.

A row of cars edged up to me and honked.

“Where are you?” Vicki asked.

“In the parking lot,” I answered. “Hold on.”

I found a bench and sat down. “So the band isn’t making the kind of money to justify a regular salary for all the members. So, Roy starts doing a little side hustling.”

“He starts selling drugs?” AJ asked.

“That’s what you would think,” I replied. “Instead of risky drug dealing, he starts smuggling in overseas contraband. It’s less dangerous than drugs, and it’s harder to get caught, I imagine.”

“Where does he get the stuff?” Vicki asked.

“Mainly Irwin Montague,” I said. “But the trip to Africa was big.”

“So how does he make money?” Vicki asked. “Where’s his buyer?”

I laughed. “That’s where it gets real interesting. Remember our old friend Brent Levinson?”

“Ugh,” Vicki said. “Ass grabbing La Vista Brent Levinson?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Him.”

“He’s the buyer?” Vicki asked incredulously.

“Yeah,” I said. “He’s got houses in both Beijing and Cancun. Irwin gets the stuff to Mexico. Then, Brent flies out on his jet to Cancun, and then to his house in Beijing, where he sells it for boatloads.”

Vicki and AJ were silent for a few minutes as the connections all smoothed out in their heads

“What does this have to do with Kelsi and James?” AJ asked.

“This is the part I’m not totally sure about,” I said. “Levinson offered James the contract on the premise that he’d continue to keep Roy around. James, however, figured out about Elias, and hated Roy and Kelsi, so he fired everyone. Then, without Roy and the smuggling, James had no value to Levinson, and now he’s got him in an expensive contract.”

“So Levinson has James